The Smiths' 1985 classic “Meat Is Murder” is back in 8-bit form for This Beautiful Creature Must Die, PETA's new online game that features an instrumental arcade-style version of the song on loop.
Players must act quickly to save chickens, cows, pigs, and turkeys from being slaughtered by tapping the animals before they fall to the bottom of the screen — while avoiding game-ending bombs. The addictive mobile-friendly game, created in collaboration with This Is Pop, is free to play here.
In addition to its vintage style, what sets This Beautiful Creature Must Die apart from other online games is the urgent message underlying its quest, as noted by The Smiths’ lead singer and longtime vegan Morrissey: “This game is the biggest social crusade of all, as we safeguard the weak and helpless from violent human aggression. You don’t get that from Pokémon Go.”
The Smiths also gave PETA permission to use the original, full-length version of “Meat Is Murder” in a hard-hitting video exposé of the meat industry that’s featured in the new game.
“PETA’s This Beautiful Creature Must Die has a fun, nostalgic vibe but also calls out animal agriculture as the biggest threat to human health, animals, and the environment today,” says PETA Vice President of Marketing Joel Bartlett. “After mastering the game, players can save animals and the Earth in real life by going vegan.”
PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” — notes that in today’s industrialized meat and dairy industries, chickens’ and turkeys’ throats are cut while they’re still conscious, piglets’ tails and testicles are cut off without the use of painkillers, and calves are torn away from their mothers within 48 hours of birth. At slaughterhouses, animals are hung upside down and bled to death, often while they’re still able to feel pain.
While PETA has created numerous online games — including successful parodies of Pokémon, Super Mario Bros., Cooking Mama, and more — This Beautiful Creature Must Die is its first mobile-friendly game that can also be played on iPhones and Androids.
